Book Report: On Tyranny

29. Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century (2017) (10/19/18)

This little book—or more accurately, manifesto, opinionated and passionate—written by an expert in mid-twentieth-century totalitarianism, whether on the right (fascism) or the left (communism), provides twenty pithy lessons for Ameri-cans and others who find themselves teetering on the edge of an authoritarian precipice. They provide instruction, and perhaps hope—but only if we take the lessons to heart and mobilize, get informed, get active. And in this, Snyder suggests, history is an excellent teacher.

The twenty lessons are as follows:

1. Do not obey in advance. Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given, which in turn teaches power what it can do. Snyder's example: anticipatory obedience in 1938 Vienna that decided the fate of Austrian Jews.
2. Defend institutions. Institutions do not protect themselves. Choose an institution you care about—a court, a newspaper, a law, a labor union—and take its side. Snyder's example: a 1933 editorial from a German Jewish newspaper expressing (as it turned out) naive skepticism that Hitler would deprive people of their constitutional rights.
3. Beware the one-party state. Support the multi-party system and defend the rules of democratic elections. Vote, and consider running for office. Snyder: "We [Americans] believe that we have checks and balances, but have rarely faced a situation like the present: when the less popular of the two parties controls every lever of power at the federal level, as well as the majority of statehouses. The party that exercises such control proposes few policies that are popular with society at large, and several that are generally unpopular—and thus must either fear democracy or weaken it."
4. Take responsibility for the face of the world. Notice the swastikas and other signs of hate. Do no look away, and do not get used to them. Remove them yourself. Snyder's examples: early 1930s Soviet Union under Stalin, portraying prosperous farmers as pigs, turning poorer peasants against the producers, inducing famine; 1933 Germany, marking shops as "Jewish" and watching silently as Jewish neighbors disappear; 1940s Czechoslovakia, greengrocers adopting the slogan "Workers of the world, unite!" simply to be able to do their business.
5. Remember professional ethics. It is hard to subvert a rule-of-law state without lawyers, or to hold show trials without judges. Authoritarians need obedient civil servants. Snyder: "Professional ethics must guide us precisely when we are told that the situation is exceptional."
6. Be wary of paramilitaries. Snyder's example: the SS, which ran the concentration camps, "began as an organization outside the law, became an organization that transcended the law, and ended up as an organization that undid the law."
7. Be ready if you must be armed. Evils of the past involved policemen and soldiers finding themselves, one day, doing irregular things. Be ready to say no. Snyder's examples: the Great Terror in the Soviet Union (1937–38) and, of course, the Holocaust (1941–45), both of which were carried out to a significant degree by regular police. "Without the conformists, the great atrocities would have been impossible."
8. Stand out. It is easy to follow along. It can feel strange to do or say something different. But without that unease, there is no freedom. The moment you set an example, the spell of the status quo is broken, and others will follow. Snyder's examples: Winston Churchill standing up to the Germans and against his own government; a young Polish woman who saved a Jewish family from certain death in the ghetto.
9. Be kind to our language. Think up your own way of speaking. Make an effort to separate yourself from the internet. Read books. Snyder discusses philologist Victor Klemperer's analysis of Hitlerian speech; classic novels of totalitarianism; and suggests a few illuminating books to read to learn more.
10. Believe in truth. To abandon facts is to abandon freedom. If nothing is true, then all is spectacle. Snyder discusses Victor Klemperer's four modes of the death of truth: open hostility to verifiable reality—presenting inventions and lies as if they were facts; shamanistic incantation ("Build the wall"); magic thinking, or the open embrace of contradiction; misplaced faith (e.g., in a leader). Also, Ionesco's Rhinoceros.
11. Investigate. Figure things out for yourself. Take responsibility for what you share with others. Snyder focuses here on the importance of solid, ethical print journalism.
12. Make eye contact and small talk. This is not just polite. It is part of being a citizen and a responsible member of society. Snyder: "In the most dangerous of times, those who escape and survive generally know people whom they can trust. Having old friends is the politics of last resort. And making new ones is the first step toward change."
13. Practice corporeal politics. Get outside. Put your body in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar people. Snyder's example: Poland's Solidarity movement.
14. Establish a private life. Try not to have hooks on which the tyrants can hang you. Snyder: this includes securing our computers.
15. Contribute to good causes. Be active in organizations, political or not, that express your own view of life. Pick a charity or two and set up autopay. Snyder: "Insofar as we take pride in these activities, and come to know others who do so as well, we are creating civil society."
16. Learn from peers in other countries. The present difficulties in the United States are an element of a larger trend. And no country is going to find a solution by itself. Snyder's example: Ukraine and those who study eastern Europe could see what was going on in the U.S. before many of us did.
17. Listen for dangerous words. Be angry about the treacherous use of patriotic vocabulary. Snyder's examples: exception, terrorism, extremism, emergency. 
18. Be calm when the unthinkable arrives. Modern tyranny is terror management. Snyder's examples: the 1933 Reichstag fire (whose cause remains unknown); the rise of Putin.
19. Be a patriot. Set a good example of what America means for the generations to come.  Snyder on the difference between nationalism and patriotism. "A patriot wants the nation to live up to its ideals, which means asking us to be our best selves. A patriot must be concerned with the real world, which is the only place where his country can be loved and sustained. A patriot has universal values, standards by which he judges his nation, always wishing it well—and wishing that it would do better."
20. Be as courageous as you can. If none of us is prepared to die for freedom, then all of us will die under tyranny.
Epilogue: the politics of inevitability (the sense that history could move in only one direction) vs. the politics of eternity (self-absorbed concern with a false past: MAGA)

There. I guess you don't need to read the book now. But . . . do. It's only 126 small-format pages. And you might learn something.